Data loss

Here it is:

Harry: You realize of course that we could never be friends.
Sally: Why not?
Harry: What I’m saying is – and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form – is that men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.
Sally: That’s not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.
Harry: No you don’t.
Sally: Yes I do.
Harry: No you don’t.
Sally: Yes I do.
Harry: You only think you do.
Sally: You say I’m having sex with these men without my knowledge?
Harry: No, what I’m saying is they all WANT to have sex with you.
Sally: They do not.
Harry: Do too.
Sally: They do not.
Harry: Do too.
Sally: How do you know?
Harry: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.
Sally: So, you’re saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?
Harry: No. You pretty much want to nail ‘em too.
Sally: What if THEY don’t want to have sex with YOU?
Harry: Doesn’t matter because the sex thing is already out there so the friendship is ultimately doomed and that is the end of the story.
Sally: Well, I guess we’re not going to be friends then.
Harry: I guess not.
Sally: That’s too bad. You were the only person I knew in New York.

Here’s an abstract from a recent meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (no online paper that I could find):

Getting Both Sides of the Story: Sexual Attraction and Sexual Events Between Opposite-Sex Friends

Matteson, Lindsay K. (University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, matteslk@uwec.edu); Gragg, Brittany I.; Stocco, Corey S.; Bleske-Rechek, April

Debate exists on whether opposite-sex friends experience sexual attraction to one another and, if so, whether that attraction adds spice or strife to the friendship. Little systematic research, however, has evaluated these questions; and existing studies have not asked for both friends’ perspectives. In the current study, 89 pairs of young adult opposite-sex friends (mean friendship duration = 2 years) reported on their friendship. Men reported more sexual attraction to their friends than did women, and this sex difference endured after controlling for men’s greater sexual unrestrictedness. Approximately 25% of friendship pairs had romantically kissed, and over 10% had “fooled around.” Attraction to friend was not related to friendship duration, and sexual events occurred at various time points in the friendship, suggesting that attraction to friends isn’t something that is “overcome” with time. We discuss our findings in the context of mainstream literature suggesting that opposite-sex friendships are inherently platonic.